Disk harrow



Dec. 22, 1942. H. M. JCVDHNSTON El AL DISK HARROW Filed March 1, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet '2 11 K nm P02 BJf/QQL" BY A Tree/v53 1942. H. M. JOHNSTON ETAL 2,306,127

DISK HARROW Filed March 1, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet s E C H: g I J T "=91 a \J N w I 5 9 k J N De 2, 1942- H. M. JOHNSTON ETAL 263053127 DISK- HARROW Filed March 1, 1941 s Shets-Sheet 4 fiYVE/YTOQS HOW/JED MJOH/YSTO/Y P5059 5.1522:

Dec. 22, 1942.

H. M. JOHNSTON EI'AL DISK HARROW 'Filed March 1 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I m vt/vmes I HUI/M420 MJOH/Ysrm apa/2 [S /sexes ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 22, 1942 DISK HARROW Howard M. Johnston and Peder Bjerre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assignors to Massey-Harris Company Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, limited company of Canada 7 Application March 1, 1941, Serial N... 381,232

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to a disk harrow wherein the main frame comprises a forwardly extending centrally positioned draw bar frame having two parts, one telescoped within the other and side frame members being pivotally secured to the forwardly extending part of the draw bar by means of rearwardly diverging hitc bars.

A novel feature of the present invention is that the side frames of the device each have but one direct draw connection to the draw bar frame. These connections are hinged to the draw bar and diverge rearwardly, the rear ends being hinged preferably to the rear bar of their respective side frames. The front bars of the side frames are adapted to slidably contact the hitch bars so as to stabilize the frames.

A further novel feature of the present invention is that the inner disk sections are rigidly secured to the inner ends of the side frames, the center disk sections being hingedly connected to these frames whereby these sections may move vertically relative to the frame, the outer sec tions being rigidly secured to a hinged portion of the side frames.

One of the objects of our invention is to provide side frame members wherein the portion of the frames to which the end disk sections are secured may be swung upwardly and inwardly lid-like so as to narrow the implement for going through gates etc. and whereby the weight of the end sections and their frame portions may be added to their frames and to the four other disk sections.

Another object of the present invention is to provide center sections for each gang having means whereby each center section is secured to its frame by means of draw bars, the front ends of which are pivoted to the frame by means of a unitary shaft to which the draw bars are rigidly secured, thus providing a free vertical move-' ment of the center sections relative to the frame or relative to the other two sections of the gang. A further object of our invention is to provide means whereby part of the weight of the frames may be yieldingly added to the center sections of each gang and whereby when the weight of the end section is added to the part of the frame to which the center and inner sections are secured, the additional weight may be equally distributed between the center and inner sections. Another object of the present invention is to provide means whereby when the end sections are in operating position, the end portion of the frame may be rigidly locked to the remainder of the frame.

A further object of our invention is to provide draw bar connections from the inner bearings of the inner sections to the rear end of the hitch frame, whereby the gangs and their frames may move longitudinally independently to a limited extent, and whereby the weight of the rear end of the hitch frame will be carried directly by the inner ends of the inner sections.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a spring connection between the inner ends of the inner gangs whereby these ends will be held into the ground to the same depth as the other portions of the sections.

Another object of our invention is to provide means whereby opposite ends of each section will be caused to penetrate to the same depth but the sections as a whole will be permitted to ride over uneven ground.

The above recited objects are accomplished by means of parts, combinations of parts, or their equivalents, and mode of operation, as hereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a top view of our improved disk harrow with the gangs adjusted to an operating position.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged View of the left hand sections and.a fraction of the main frame, in-' cluding a partial view of the draw connection.

Fig. 3 is a rear View of the right hand sections, illustrating how the center section may move relative to the end sections.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, illustrating how the center section may move downwardly relative to the other two sections.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the center part of the harrow, illustrating a portion of the hitch and fractionally the means provided for holding the inner ends of the inside sections into the ground.

Fig. 6 is an end View of the device taken on lines 8-6 of Figure 5.

Fig. 7 is a fractional top view of the left hand frame and sections illustrating the end section folded over the part of the frame attached to the adjacent two sections.

Fig. 8 is an end view similar to Figure 6 but taken on line 8-8 of Figure 2. s

As thus illustrated, the hitch part of the frame is designated in its entirety by reference character A, the right hand gang frame in its entirety is designated by reference character B, the left hand gang frame is designated in its entirety by I reference character C, the right hand disk section on the right hand gang is designated in its entirety by reference character D, the center section on the right hand gang is designated in its entirety by reference character E, the inside right hand section in its entirety is designated by reference character F, and the left hand sections are designated in their entireties by reference characters G, H and J.

The hitch part of frame A comprises frame members It and II being secured together at their rear ends by bracket I2, the front ends of these bars being secured together by means of a bracket [3. The forward portion of the hitch is designated by numeral M. This portion of the hitch is slidably mounted in members i and I I, as illustrated, the front end having a suitable clevice l5 for attachment to the draw bar of a tractor.

Member I 4 is illustrated in Figure l in its foremost position. That is in the position required to hold the gangs at their greatest angle.

When member I4 is in its rearmost position.

the gangs will be held in alignment, as illustrated in Figure 5. The angled position is the operating position and the aligned position is the position required for transportation.

Means are provided whereby a latch 16 will hold member 14 in a desired position relative to members In and II. complished by pulling a rope and unfastening latch 16 and causing the tractor to move forwardly or rearwardly, thus to change the angle of the gangs through draw bars I'll1, the forward ends of which are hingedly connected to bracket l8 which is secured to member it. The latch mechanism is too Well known to require further description. Members ll are hingedly secured to frames B and C, as at I 9.

Frame members B and C comprise front bars 20-20, and rear bars 2l-2l. The outer ends of members 20 and 2| are' secured together by means of braces 22-2 2. The frame members are secured together near their centers by means of braces 23-23.

The inner ends of members 20 and 2| are secured together by means of plates 24-24 (see Figure 5). These plates may be extended inwardly as at 2525 or the extension may be formed from a separate piece, its rear end being hingedly connected to the inside bearing 26 ofv the inside gang (see Figures 5 and 6) by means of a bolt 21,. the bolt extending through spaced ears on member 26 between which the rear ends of draw bars 28 are pivotally mounted.

Draw bars 28 extend. through slots in the downwardly extending flange of member l2 and are hingedly mounted on the horizontal portion of member [2 by means of bolts 2929 (see Figures 1, 5 and 6). Members 24 may be extended inwardly as at 30 (see Figures 5 and 6), the inner ends being turned upwardly slightly as at 3| so when the gangs are moved from an inoperating position to an operating position, these members 30 cannot catch on members 28.

Obviously the weight of the inner ends of rznembers B and C will be supported on bearings Draw bar members form connections between the outer bearings on gangs F and G and frames B and C, these members extending downwardly slightly and rearwardly and being secured between the ears on the bearings similar to that shown in Figure 6.

It will be seen that gangs F and. G are rigidly The adjustments are ac- 7 suitably secured together.

held to frame members B and C so the weight of the inner ends of members B and C will be on the inner disk sections.

We provide supplemental frames for sections D and J as follows:

Front frame bars 36 are provided, (see Fig. '7) having rearwardly and downwardly extending hitch bars 37 and 38 and a rear frame bar 39 to which members 31 and 33 are secured, the rear ends of members 31 and 38 extending to and between the ears on the bearings of units D and J, as clearly illustrated in the various figures.

The outer ends of members 38 and 39 are The front ends of members 36 are shaped, as at 48 (see Figure 7) and are pivotally secured to brackets 4| by means of rods 42-.

Inner brackets 43 are secured to members 2| of frames B and C thus forming, spaced hinges for the frame to which members D and J are secured, the hinges being preferably longitudinally positioned (see Figure 2) so member 39 will lie on member 2| when gangs D and J are in an operating position, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2; at which time these two members are secured together by means of brackets 45 which are secured to members 39 and brackets 45 which are secured tomembers 2 I.

I-bolts 46 are hingedly mounted on brackets 45 having nuts 41 whereby the bolt may b swung into a Vertical position through a slot in brackets 44 and nut 41 made taut (see Figures 2 and 7) thus formingunitary frames B and C.

The rear ends of bars I-'! are pivotally secured to frame members 2|, as already described. Thus it will'be seenv that the angle of the gangs may be changed at'will by simply unlatching member l6 and causing the tractor to move forwardly or rearwardly. When the outer disk sections are in working position, the inner and outer sections will be rigidly secured to members B and C but the center sections E- and H- will be permitted to move vertically relative to the inner and outer sections in the following manner:

A shaft 55 is rotatably mounted on members 22 and 23 by means of bearings 56-56 (see Figure 8). Draw bars 57 are secured to the under side of shaft 55. referably bywelding. These bars extend downwardly and rearwardly, their rear ends being positioned. between the ears of the adjacent bearings by means of bolts 21 similar to'the fastening of member 28 to bearing 26.

Other members 58 at their forward ends are welded to the top ofv shaft 55 and extend rearwardly and downwardly, contacting member 51, as at 59 at which pointpthese two members are welded together, the remainder 68 extending upwardly and slightly forwardly, as illustrated, the upper end being bent to a horizontal position as a 6|.

It will be seen" that. gangs E. and H may move vertically on member 55, as an axis. The gang bearings are provided with posts 62' the upper ends being bent at right angles and secured to a frame bar 63 which may be considered the main frame bar of the section answering as a support for a. weight 'box' 64, the front end of Which is secured to member 61, asillustrated.

' The other sections are provided with weight boxes very similar to weight box 64, the detail description of which will not now be necessary except to point out that the weight boxes on sections F and G are designated'in their entireties by reference characters K, each being mounted on the section bearings similar to members 64. The weight boxes on sections D and J in their entireties are designated by. reference characters L. Weight boxes K and L are secured to the section bearings and their connections to frames B and C, as illustrated in Figure 6, thus forming an integral part of the frame.

It will be noted, as described, that the entire weight of the frames B and C and the rear end of member A will-rest on sections D, F, G and J and that the only weight on sections E and H will be the weight of the sections themselves or Whatever material is placed in the weight boxes except as follows: i

In order to equalize the pressure on sections E and H, I secure brackets 6565 to members 2f (see Figures 1 and 8) and pivot thereon I-bolts 65B6. I-bolts 66 are threaded as at 6'! and have adjusting nuts 68.

We secure brackets 69 to the forward edges of weight boxes 64, bolts 66 bein slidably extended through these brackets. We mount springs is between'nuts 68 and brackets 69 so as to exert downward pressure on sections E and H, nut 63 being available for increasing or decreasing this pressure, at will. It will be seen that equal weight may be placedon all of the sections When the sections are in operating position and that when the end sections D and J are swung over and rest on their frames (see Figures '7), additional .1

weight may be applied to sections E and H as well as sections F and G so the four sections will each receive equal weight, if desired.

It will be noted that the thrust of the sections will be inwardly or toward the center. We provide the inner ends of sections F and G with spherically shaped washers H, thus to determine the operating position of the various sections and to hold the front cutting edges of the inside disks of sections F and G in close proximity.

In disk harrows of the class, where the thrust is applied to the bottom of the disks, the inside sections are inclined to be pushed out of the ground. In order to counteract this upward movement, we supply a spring plate 1'5 having a reinforcing leaf 16, clips 11 and bolts 18 which hold leaf 16 into position on member 15.

Member 15 at each end is provided with slots 'I9'I9 (see Figure The ends of members '95 adjacent the slots rest on posts 85-39, each having a bolt 8| and a washer 82, the bolt passing through slots 19, the slot being positioned and of a length which will permit the sections to move toward and away from each other in the process of adjusting their angles.

At the end of weight boxes K, we secure preferably curved angle bars 83-83 which are somewhat higher than posts 8!! and contacting member so this member will exert a downward pressure against the inner ends of sections F and G; thus to counteract the lifting eifect on the inner ends of sections F and G as already described. It will be noted that sections E and 1-1 will move in parallel relation to frames B and C; therefore all six sections will be held parallel to each other and each section will penetrate the soil equally for its length.

It will be seen that in addition to providing means for supplying each section with equal weight, the end sections may be swung up and out of the way for passing through narrow openings or for adding weight to the other sections. In either event, weight may be applied to sections E and H equal to the weight applied to the other sections. It is the intention to permit sections D and'J,iwhen moved to the position shown in Figure '7, to rest on frames B and C.

Posts 84 are secured to bars Zilin the position shown so sections D and'Jwill rest on the posts without contact to either of the inside gangs.

It will be understood that other means may be used foradjusting the angle of the gangs. For example, member A may be made integral and member l8 be slidably mounted and have a latch similar to latch Hi. Furthermore, member i5 and its slots 19 may be designed so they prevent the gangs from spreading too far apart when backing or transporting the harrow. It will be understood that the slots through which members 23 extend will be wide enough to permit only the necessary sidemovement of the gangs.

Clearly many minor detail changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, as recited in the appended claims. For example, some harrows may be manufactured and sold without weightboxes. Each of the sections may consist of a different number of disks and the fastenings or draw bars between the sections and the frames may be differently designed as to details.

Having thus shown and described our invention, we claim:

1. A disk harrow of the class described, com prising a longitudinally extending two part draw bar frame, the forward part being slidably mounted onthe rear part and having manually controlled means for locking said parts in longitudinal positions relative to each other, transversely extending side frame members each having at their inner ends a swinging draw link connection to the rear end of said draw bar frame, draw bars having their rear ends vertically hingedly connected to said transversely extending frame members intermediate their ends and having a vertically hinged connection at their front ends to the front part of said draw bar frame, three separate disk frames attached to and in rear of each said transversely extending frames each having rotatably mounted thereon a disk gang the outer and inner disk frames being rigidly secured to the ends of the adjacent transverse frames, shafts rotatably mounted on said transverse frames and substantially parallel to the rear edge thereof, the center disk frames being secured at opposite ends to said shafts, whereby the center disk frames are free to move vertically relative to the adjacent disk frames and parallel thereto.

2. A device as recited in claim 1 including; connections between said transverse frames and said center disk frames adapted to yieldingly add some of the weight of said transverse frames thereto.

3. A device as recited in claim 1 including; said transverse frame members being formed in two parts which are horizontally hinged together, the end disk frames only being secured to the other ends thereof and means whereby said end disk frames may be swung over and caused to rest on the inner portions of the transverse frames, means whereby the outer ends of said transverse frames may be rigidly secured to the inner ends thereof.

4. A device as recited in claim 1 including; said draw bar frame, transverse frames, draw bars, draw links, and shafts being substantially in alignment with the axis of said disk gangs to thereby provide direct draft means for all of the disk gangs.

5. A device as recited in claim 1 including;

a fiat bar having spring characteristics, itsv ends being vertically rotatably mounted on said inner disk frames, 5, distance from the inner ends thereof and means for holding the ends of the bar from vertical movement relative to the disk frames but permit horizontal movement of the disk frames relative to the bar, guide members secured to the ends of said inner disk frames and positioned under said flat bar and being of a, height whereby yielding down pressure is exerted on the inner ends of said inner disk frames.

6. A disk harrow of the class described, comprising a longitudinally extending two part draw bar frame, the forward part being slidably mounted on the rear part and having manually controlled means for locking said parts in longitudinal positions relative to each other, transversely extending side frame members each having at their inner ends a swinging draw link connection to the rear end of said draw bar frame, draw bars having their rear ends vertically hingedly connected to said transversely extending frame members intermediate their ends and having a vertically hinged connection at their front ends to the front part of said draw bar frame, three separate disk frames attached to and in rear of each said transversely extending frames each having rotatably mounted thereon a disk gang, the outer and inner disk frames being rigidly secured to the ends of the adjacent transverse frames, the center disk frames having horizontally pivoted draw link connections at their front ends to said transversely extending side frames and having meansv to prevent end movement thereof, whereby the center disk frames may move vertically relative to the transverse disk frames.

'7. A device as recited in claim 6' including; said draw bar frame, draw bars, transverse frames and draw links being substantially in horizontal alignment with the axis of said disk gangs to thereby provide direct draft means for all. of the disk gangs.

8. A disk harrow of the class described, comprising a, longitudinally centrally positioned main frame and two transversely positioned draw frames secured thereto, means associated with said. frames whereby the transverse angle of said draw frames may be changed relative to each other, three disk gang frames secured to and in rear of each said draw frames, the end disk frames being rigidly secured to the ends of said draw frames and the center disk frame having hinged draw connections to the draw frames to thereby permit vertical movement relative to the adjacent draw frame, the draw connections between said disk frames and said transverse draw frames and said centrally positioned main frame and first means being substantially horizontal and in alignment with the axis of said disk gangs to thereby provide a direct draft propelling means.

HOWARD M. JOHNSTON: PEDER BJERRE. 

